THE IMPACT OF FAMILY COMPOSITION ON PROVIDING HELP TO OLDER PARENTS -A STUDY OF EMPLOYED ADULTS

Using a subsample from the Canadian Aging and Research Network (CARNET ) Work and Family Survey of 1,015 persons who provide at least 1 hour of help weekly to one or both parents, the impact of family compositio n on providing help to older parents is examined. Specifically, three research questions are addressed: (1) Do family composition characteri stics affect the number of hours of help provided to a parent or paren ts? (2) does the likelihood of being the sole provider of help differ according to these characteristics? and (3) does the likelihood of bei ng the primary helper vary based on family composition? Family composi tion variables include gender and marital status of the respondent, nu mber of brothers and sisters, the number of children age 20 and older and age 12 and under, and the gender of the parent. Several family com position variables are significant predictors, including number of sis ters, number of brothers, and gender in interaction with marital statu s and number of siblings.